Rubio Sanctions UN Official Waging ‘Political And Economic Warfare’ Against U.S., Israel

The United States is imposing sanctions on United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese over a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the United States and Israel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions on Wednesday in a post on X. Albanese is the UN rapporteur on Palestinian rights and has a long history of downplaying Palestinian terror and mischaracterizing Israeli military and defense operations.

“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio wrote.

“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense,” he continued. “The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”

Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt @IntlCrimCourt action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.

Albanese’s campaign of political and economic…

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 9, 2025

Last week, Albanese released a report on “the corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory.” The report, titled “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,” identified nearly 50 corporate entities that it accused of war profiteering for working with the Israeli government.

Last month, Albanese called for Israel to be expelled from the United Nations after Israeli forces bombed the headquarters of the UNRWA in Gaza City. Israel carried out the strike after learning that Hamas had set up a military base inside the headquarters after it had been evacuated.

Over the course of the war, close links between Hamas and the UNRWA have been revealed, including members of the UNRWA taking part in the October 7 attack and also being members of Hamas.

Albanese has been a supporter of the antisemitic Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement targeting Israel. She has also been an outspoken opponent of Israel’s military operation in Gaza. In February, Albanese said that Israel did not have the “right” to invade Gaza after Hamas militants and Palestinians killed around 1,200 people and took hostage hundreds more in the October 7 terror attack.

“It didn’t have the right to act in self-defense, meaning waging a war because it couldn’t wage a war against the people it maintains under occupation,” Albanese told an audience of students at Harvard University. “What Israel had to do was to repel the attack on its own territory, arrest and detain and treat humanely the people who had been arrested and ensure justice.”

Albanese has also appeared to benefit from her close ties to Palestinian groups. In 2023, Albanese took a trip to Adelaide, Australia, that was funded by a cohort of Palestinian groups, including The Australian Friends of Palestine Association and Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.

The trip sparked concern from a watchdog group, UN Watch, that sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for Albanese’s removal. In the letter, UN Watch pointed out that “independence and impartiality are basic requirements for UNHRC Special Procedures under Article 3 of the Code of Conduct, which requires them to be ‘free from any kind of extraneous influence … either direct or indirect.’”